Well we are in Spring conditions with weather meaning WIND. Maybe
a little April showers to bring May flowers. We already have some
wild flowers out along the highways. Another thing that happens
in the spring is the Boy Scout Camporall. This time I have arranged
to have station call sign K2BSA/6. You might wonder why K2 call
sign for a scout group centered in Dallas TX. Well the BSA National
office used to be In New Jersey when they got the call sign. In the
1970's they moved to Dallas and have kept the call. It is used at
the National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill VA as a 3 area. Some years
ago at the Jamboree a number of us thought it would be great to use
the call at our own area Jamboree-On-The-Air sites and encourage
as many stations to contact all the sites. Even have the sites
contact each other. For a few of the years I had arranged the call
in Ridgecrest JOTA. Some others have gotten the 6-area call for
their sites when I didn't get to the office first. Any way just
some trivia and history.

If you are interested in seeing and participating in the Field Day
like set up in Keysville (a site southeast from Lake Isabella on a
dirt but good road) let Bill know. Mike, WA6ARA and Greg WA7IRW
will be along to operate using FT-817 with amplifier, multi-band
inverted Vee antenna and solar/battery power. Mike suspects we will
be on the lower HF bands due to poor propagation. We could use some
back up contacts in Ridgecrest if you would prefer to sit at home.
Saturday April 22 between 9 and 3 we should be on the air and looking
for contacts. 73's Bill WA6QYR

Board of Officers Meeting Minutes & Minutes of the General Meeting
By Secretary Lloyd Brubaker (WA6KZV)

The board meeting was mostly reports of incidents with
scouting. The demonstrations of Ham Radio went well and was well
received. The membership drive is tapering off. As of this writing
we have over 84 members.

TREASURER'S REPORT
Treasurer's Report as of April 1, 2006:

Draft Account $ 1,350.20
Share Account $ 5,072.76
BALANCE: $ 6,422.96

submitted by Pam Evans, KC6UUS

April Meeting Program

John Wendt WA6BFH was first licensed in 1967 at the age of 14. He
gained the help and assistance of an Elmer who encouraged him to
think conceptually about radio and physics. His interests are
primarily focused on the VHF and UHF wavelength bands, but he is
interested in the entirety of the RF spectrum and all of Amateur
radios bands extending from the MF through the SHF regions. He is
most encouraged by the findings of the Ham Radio

operators Ross Hull, John Kraus, and Edwin Howard Armstrong.

John's presentation for us this evening will be on Signal Propagation
Across the Spectrum. His aim is to highlight and explain the nature
and pursuit of working not only F-layer DX distant signals at the
peak of the 11 year solar cycle, but also pursuing E-layer DX, and
even the vagaries of Meteor Scatter, and other forms of more elusive
or variable signal propagation on all and any frequencies.

EarthQuake !
From Lloyd Brubaker, WA6KZV

An earthquake a few days ago was a 4.1 with an epicenter between
Ridgecrest and Barstow. At my QTH it lasted a scant 4 seconds and
seemed to be a single shock wave. Some reported a rocking motion
but we didn't feel that. Others didn't feel it at all. The RACES
net went on the air promptly and a damage assessment showed no known
damage. The quake was reported on Ch 7 fifteen minutes later.

David A. Rosenthal, N6TST, wins February QST Cover Plaque Award

I'd like to thank everyone who voted for my Polar Bear Portable
article in the Best in QST competition for the February 2006 issue.
I received the pleasantly surprising news about winning the prize
only about a week and a half ago.

I've written a total of seven features for QST over the years but
this one seemed to be the most popular so far. Those bears ARE
cute. Interestingly, the photos I used for my wife's (Donna, KF6ZVE)
article in the Ventura County Star (it appeared in their 25 September
2005 edition) also won a Northern Lights Award, one of the annual
awards presented by Canadian Tourism for achievement in journalism
and photography.

The next trip should be in May to the Canadian Maritime provinces
of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where I'll run rental car mobile
HF. Propagation willing, this will be an opportunity for local
members with 20 meters and SSTV software to participate. The
tentative SSTV date is 26 May but I'll have more details as the
trip gets closer. According to projections during the planned
1500-2200Z time-frame, the ionosphere should cooperate, albeit
perhaps weakly.

But again, thanks to everyone in the club who voted for me this
time around. It's a lot of fun producing these articles (not to
mention the work) and, now that I've retired from China Lake, I
hope to do more.

Anyway, that's it for the moment. Once I finalize the details of
this upcoming trip, I'll drop a line with more specifics.

Thanks,
Dave N6TST

Fox Hunt!

Due to the weather, the March Fox Hunt was a bust. The next hunt
will be 14 May, which corresponds to the CQ National Fox Hunt
weekend. We will be starting at the Heritage Inn parking lot at
9am. Usually these hunts last about an hour and everyone has fun.
No equipment? No problem. You can hook up with someone who does and
ride along. Be sure to bring along your handheld, so you too can
twirl around trying to find it in the end. The frequency is 146.565
MHz. Everyone is encouraged to give it a try. For more info contact
Mike, WA6ARA or Greg, WA7IRW.

IWV Emergency Net

Thanks Pam, KC6UUS for net control for the month of
March. Net check in is as follows:

Date Checkins
March 6 17
March 13 16
March 20 13
March 27 15

Upcoming Public Service Opportunity

The Sierra Amateur Radio Club will bring a field demonstration
station to the Camporall on Saturday 22 April. We have the approval
to use the Station Call sign K2BSA/6 from National BSA. We hope to
be set up by around 9 am and give demonstrations until about 4 pm.
We will have a solar powered low power HF station with multi- band
antenna to show and allow Scouts to talk with other amateurs during
the day. We may have a satellite communication station along also.
See you then, Bill Burns WA6QYR.

Antenex TRABT1420 Review By Hal/KM6JM

How many antennas have you permanently bent from entering and leaving
the garage, not to mention the SLAP SLAP SLAP as the antenna scraps
along the seams of the door? Even a short quarter wave 2M whip at
19 inches on a SUV can recreate that same scraping and slapping.

A couple years ago while thumbing through the latest AES catalog,
I noticed a very low profile, stealthy antenna from Antenex, which
I thought would go very nicely with my mobile rig. I quickly called
Squeak at AES Las Vegas, he quickly took my VISA number and a couple
of days later, I had the antenna.

Upon reading the manual that came with the antenna, I was a bit
concerned. Although I had read all of the web pages at Antenex.com,
I had not seen anything regarding the very limited bandwidth of the
antenna. The manual stated that the 1.5:1 VSWR bandwidth was a low
.5 MHz. The manual also stated that although the antenna was rated
at 60 Watts, transmitting into a high SWR, or in other words,
transmitting outside of that narrow bandwidth, could damage/destroy
the antenna. Yikes! After some thinking, I realized that for my
operating, this narrow bandwidth would be acceptable. Since I
usually operate on the YBN translator (146.04 transmit) and
occasionally transmit on 146.52 simplex, both of those frequencies
are within 500 KHz of each other. The Antenex website has since
been updated and it now reflects a 1.5:1 VSWR of 850 KHz and 2:1
VSWR of 1.5 MHz. Using a MFJ-269 SWR Analyzer, I obtained a 1.75
MHz 2:1 SWR. Using a plain standard quarter wave whip, I measured
over 18 MHz and using a 5/8 wave, I measured just under 8 MHz of
bandwidth for a 2:1 SWR.

As you can see in the picture, the antenna is very small, measuring
just a tad under 3.5 inches tall. Antenex claims that the performance
is equal to a quarter wave antenna. Although I have not performed
side-by-side comparisons, using 5 watts, I am able to KERCHUNK, I
mean, I am able to transmit into the YBN translator from the same
locations in Ridgecrest and Inyokern that I could when I was using
a standard 2M quarter wave antenna.

The antenna mount is an NMO style and is single band only. Antenex
offers a 440 model also. I like the bottom of the antenna. The
large black area is foam, which helps protect the vehicle's finish.
Then there is an o-ring to help stop moisture.

You can purchase the antenna directly from Antenex, however the
prices seem to be less at the Amateur Radio dealers, such as AES.
Although the antenna is single band only, and the review model is
designed for 2M, it receives very well out of band. When Kern
County Fire Dispatcher (KCFD) operated on 450 MHz, I was able to
receive their broadcasts without any difficulty and now that KCFD
is operating on 155 MHz, I am still able to receive their signals
full quieting.

No more slapping and I can still KERCHUNK.
73...de Hal/KM6JM

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR 2006

Download the Membership Application (PDF)
print, fill out and mail to SARC. Members who fail to renew by March will be dropped from
the roll.

RACES, ARES and INDIAN WELLS VALLEY EMERGENCY NET MEMBERS

In case of impending or current emergency, monitor the
SARC translator on 146.64/04 MHz or the backup
simplex frequency of 146.52 MHz. KK6PA, Jerry,
the local RACES EC, will coordinate mobilization. An
Emergency Net Control Station will direct radio
communications. Check in. State your capabilities. Be
prepared to go outside the IWV for at least three days.